They told the stories of their land. They became the voices of the people who could not otherwise reach out to the world. They uncovered truths that were lost in time or in the alleys of their homeland. We are talking about the recent literary star of the world and India, International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq (Heart Lamp) and the winner of 2022 Booker Prize Shehan Karunatilaka (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida), a Sri Lankan author. When we met both of them at the recently concluded Shillong Literary Festival held at Ward’s Lake, we caught up with the duo and made them reflect on their milestones, how it has taken them to places, and the way forward. Excerpts from the chat...

Shehan Karunatilaka

The first question is an offshoot of the session South Asian Literature in World Literature, which you were part of. Over the last few years, we have had South Asian names taking away big literary prizes. Case in point is Banu Mushtaq, Arundhati Roy, Geetanjali Shree, and of course, you taking the Booker. Do you think the world is taking more interest in this region or do you think we now know how to crack the code of getting globally recognised?

There are a lot of factors. First, there are infinite stories here. Talking about my homeland, Sri Lanka, we have plenty of stories, although I have written just two novels in the last 10 years. The same goes for India, which is so diverse and has so much to know and talk about. So, South Asian countries have unique stories, and we have been telling them for a long time. Also, I think, perhaps, and this is a generational thing, we write and speak English better than the West. We have been writing in this language for a long time now. I think now we have a generation of writers who can write in their own voice, and that was a key thing for Sri Lankan literature, when we started writing, not trying to sound English or American, but sounding Sri Lankan. So, those two factors, along with maybe the global appetite.

Have we cracked the code, or is there a code at all? It’s been a long time cracking, and we still have to write the good books. Also, I want to point out that there are about two billion people in this region, if you count Pakistan and Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and other countries in the region, then we can sell to each other and can have a bestseller here, and that could be enough. Getting published outside one’s country has been difficult, and getting published in the UK is all the more so. I had to struggle to get both my books published in the UK. We are in a better space now.

We still depend on the West’s validation. Will we ever come out of this?

We are writing in the language of our colonisers and it’s only when it’s published in English that it gets considered for these prizes. But look at Bollywood. It doesn’t need the West. Bollywood makes movies for India. So it is a very fine example. China has its movie industry, which is apparently bigger than Bollywood. So, maybe literature could go that way. I won’t be able to predict because I am someone who writes about the past.

Yes, you write about the past and ghosts. You give voice to the dead; you kind of resurrect the dead. What is it about the dead that fascinates you to write about them?

I don’t know if I’m going to write another ghost story for a while. Like, I don’t want to write another cricket story (referring to his first book Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew). But in that particular instance (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida), it was just the different narratives about Sri Lanka’s past. Just like in India, we had a war; we had many different sides to that story. And if you look at the end of the war, people are still arguing about whose fault it was. Who were the good guys? Who were the bad guys? Who’s to blame for the deaths? And so, I just thought, okay, let the dead speak. That’s where I came up with the idea, like, these narratives.

And I looked at all the unsolved murders of the 1980s. There are so many. Most of the murders don’t get solved, and so that kind of inspired me to take some of these characters. I fictionalised it, of course. But the idea was, what if the dead could speak? What would they talk about Sri Lanka? So, that’s really where I started. But then, I also got fascinated a bit with going to cemeteries and researching ghosts and the afterlife. But now, I think I’m done. I lived that for seven years; it was interesting.

I think there’s a new generation that isn’t aware of the war. They need to understand just the different narratives of what happened. Because these ideas of who the country belongs to, who the minorities are, keep resurfacing. There’s one important thing that I came across while writing, and that is — what do you do with your past, your unpleasant past? Do you bury it, pretend it didn’t happen? Or do you actually talk about it? We go to Berlin and you can’t walk five minutes without a memorial. They tell themselves that story over and over again. We don’t do that in South Asia. We move on. That’s why I’m interested in the past.

Does that mean that the next book is also going to be about the past?

I think that’ll be around 2000. Early 2000s. Hopefully, I can write it soon.

Before becoming a full-time author, you were in the advertising industry. How did that help you in shaping your books, as both have won multiple awards?

Well, it was a slow burn. I have been writing for 15 years, and I think where advertising helps is, it forces you to be creative every day. I was writing TV commercials, radio spots, print ads, posters…. You have techniques to come up with ideas, and that’s good for writing novels. I would write every day, and I still do that. So, I think that’s a good discipline.

How much has life changed after the Booker?

Well, I don’t have to do the day job. But I haven’t done as much writing as I normally do because now I have to travel and talk and give interviews and all of that. And now I have accountants and agents and social media managers. So, that’s what’s changed. But, as I said, it’s been three years now. Things have died down, and I would like to return to writing soon. Earlier, I always felt I was an advertising guy who wrote on the side, but now I am a writer doing advertising on the side. Also, now I just do whatever interests me. Booker has opened so many doors for me. So, I’ve got to be grateful.

You were the second Sri Lankan to win the Booker. Has it inspired other writers and publishers in Sri Lanka? Are you noticing any trend?

There has been a growing trend in the last 15 years, I think. Anuk Arudpragasam, a Sri Lankan writer, was nominated for the Booker (2021). And as I said in that last session, we have had a lot of new writers, kind of roughly my age, who are winning prizes. So, it’s been happening. I don’t think I can claim credit, but hopefully, and we’ll see in the next generation of writers, who, like I was inspired by the likes of Romesh Gunesekara, there’ll be people who will be inspired by all these Sri Lankans winning now.

You also write children’s books. A Booker prize winner, writing about the dead, now writing for children!

I was writing the children’s stories anyway, because I had two kids. Now they are 11 and nine. So, while I was writing this difficult book, I thought, okay, I’m going to write a few children’s books for them. I’m still doing that. Even though they are now growing older than the books. So, I like trying different things. Like, I think this new novel that I’m doing is very different from the last two. No ghosts, no cricket and all that.

Banu Mushtaq

You’ve been on a whirlwind tour after your Booker win since May, meeting thousands of people and visiting many countries. How has it changed your life?

Yes, I’ve been to many countries, attending festivals, talks, and to so many Indian states as well. My itinerary is packed, and I will be going to the Jaipur Literature Festival and also Calcutta. So, I’ve been travelling a lot. I want to meet people and don’t want to disappoint them. I strongly feel that I have a moral responsibility and a social responsibility. I want to inspire them to do something.

I might have won the Booker, but I don’t let that weigh on me. I am a very simple and humble human, and I want to remain like that. There is a difference between giving and receiving. You shouldn’t have a superiority complex because if you have that, then you won’t learn anything. The more a person grows, the more they achieve success, and the more their humanitarian character and empathy should develop.

Do you think you are more grounded than before?

Yes. I was a grassroots worker, and I am still the same today. I don’t discriminate. I love people. I need to create a relationship with them.

During your session, you had mentioned how your father had believed a prediction that you would be very famous and would make him proud. Do you think he would be the happiest?

Yes, he had faith in me. He was very proud of my small and big successes. He was a progressive man.

While the world was looking up to you, the Dussehra episode (the 2025 Mysuru Dasara festival, where Mushtaq inaugurated the event amidst political controversy) at home was so disappointing. How do you react when you are stripped of your talent and viewed through the narrow lens of gender or religion?

I have been working against caste, class and gender hegemony for a long time. I understand why there is caste hegemony. Why do people think they are superior or inferior to others? What do people think about class, poverty and wealth? What do people think about gender? I have been analysing aspects of gender discrimination, values, restrictions, and the controlling strategies in depth. That’s why I feel pain, and I do get hurt, but this is how the world is. We have to live with all these values and also, most importantly, maintain our mental health.

I was pressurised to reject the government’s offer, but I did not do it because it was not just a personal matter; it was a question of the identity of all the peace-loving, democratic and right-thinking people. That is why I had to resist. I did not want to gain anything personally, but it was the greatest event of Karnataka, and it was an honour for me to be part of it.

You have also faced resistance from your own community with the religious clerics who had slapped a fatwa on you. Do you think they read your stories?

I do not know why they thought of it at that time, but after my stories came out, the discontent was less. However, the issue that remained was women’s entry in mosques. It’s a global world, and now, when we travel to places like the Middle East and even South Asian countries like Jakarta, we pray in mosques without any restrictions. I was just stating that, and they misunderstood me. Later, after reading my stories, they realised that I was not writing against Islam but rather against those who were misusing Islam.

Your books have been translated into over 35 languages, including Bengali and French. Since most of your stories talk about the oppressed women, has Heart Lamp reached Afghanistan?

It has been translated into Urdu, and Turkish women are reading it. Women in Pakistan are also reading it, but I will have to find out from my agent if there is an agreement in Afghanistan.

Your next book will be your autobiography. When did you plan it, and when can we expect it?

Yes, I am still working on it, but I have finished half of it, which means the other half is left, and once I do it, it will be out. I had started working on it much before the Booker Prize, but since the Booker happened, I stopped writing it because I am now busier meeting my new readers. I do not have time to write a single word.

Apart from the autobiography, any collection of short stories that we will get to read soon?

I am working on a second collection. It is being translated into English. I have 65 stories; 12 have been translated, and the second batch is being translated.